Re: Re: AIS: Symposium/soap box-lengthy

I guess I will weigh in on this subject.

For one thing, no system is perfect. Write in votes could easily 
produce a list of irises where the vote was so spread out that the 
number one iris had maybe 50 votes, and number 2-3-4 are tied 
for second with 18 votes. Then a bunch of folks would probably be
unhappy, citing that the vote was so diluted that it didn't mean much. 
After all, if 6000 members ALL voted (unlikely) and the top vote-getter
had those 50 or less votes I would look at the list as statistically 
invalid. The folks "most-likely" to vote on the write-in symposium would
largely be made up of the judges who vote the awards ballot (some don't)
and those folks who care about symposiums (some don't).
There is a good touch of anthropomorphism here as well. There are far more 
than the 6000+ members of AIS who grow irises. I know non-members who
grow hundreds of irises and do not belong to AIS. They don't have a vote.
So, if they happen to look at a list of 100 favorite write-in irises, they too are
being told what their favorite iris is with no say in it. 

The current Dykes results probably bear this out as well. Mesmerizer grows
well for some folks. Not here--we can line out 24 of them. They grow, they bloom.
Increase is poor, and when it comes time to ship orders, we would be lucky to have 
6 fans that sre of shippable quality. I don't know if the judges vote is broken down by 
region, but I suspect the west coast regions were far more heavily weighted for 
it than the heartland. I like it, it has a pretty flower, but I would not cast a Dykes 
vote for it. I personally know judges who vote based on knowing people or for 
a pretty face. We have other Dykes winners that probably do not do well on the
coast but do very well here. At the end of the day, for me at least, it simply isn't 
important. I accept that no matter what you do, there will be flaws in any system. 

I look at the symposium in much the same light. It is something that is interesting to 
look at. I do not and would not put a lot of stock in it no matter what. If I vote my 10 and
they don't make the list, what value is my vote? Would I vote for pretty faces that
are a struggle to grow? Would others?  Would I end up with a list of pretty faces that 
grew marginally if at all? And if so, would that differ much from the current symposium?
More populous geographic regions would possibly skew results for plants that didn't grow
well here. (see Dykes comments)  

If I want a list of favorite irises, I walk through my own garden during bloom,  and during 
transplant. I do not need to have a symposium to justify and confirm my choices. In that
light, it is my opinion that AIS has better things to spend volunteer time and limited income
on than revamping a system that will be still imperfect in a different aspect when they are 
done. Research on disease, pests, pigments, genetics all come to mind. 

Now if a few people want to set up and conduct a symposium of write ins, go for it!  AIS 
doesnt need to oversee it, and maybe the Buletin would even publish the "Deep South
Informal Write In Symposium of Tall Bearded Irises" to contrast the two systems. And I
would look at it with the same interest as the current symposium, which in no way 
influences what I grow, sell, or hybridize with.  I think we had a list produced in much
the same way by Donald Eaves on this list a couple of years ago, which was a VERY
interesting list. 

Just my $.02 worth, an alternate set of thoughts. 
Now, give me just a minute to don my asbestos shorts. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John Bruce  jbruce1@cinci.rr.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




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